If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Another one of those "marvellous" ideas that looks good on paper but is really impractical.

1. Search Engines

They use bots to crawl the web and index sites and their contents. They must index many millions of items per day. How can they tell if a link goes to someone's IP? I do occasionally see on a Google search that a link has been removed because of a complaint, which shows willingness if nothing else.

However, just because a site has one or two bad items on it from time to time is no reason to block the site as a whole.

I am pretty sure that if a search engine gets enough complaints about a particular site then they will block the site themselves as it is costing them money to handle the complaints?

2. Content Hosts

If they are of any size I doubt if they have the resource to check whether a file contains IP or not. They also have to rely on complaints.

3. Indexing/Torrent Sites.

Quite likely to have IP content but once again they cannot follow all the links to check?

I also think that copyrigh/IP law is too varied from country to country and that there are a lot of grey areas, in particular I am thinking of material that has been broadcast to the general public.

I do not see how you can introduce legislation that does not require reasonable proof, then affect people's income as a result. There must be liability for damages or the web will be filled with RIAA/MPAA mercenaries.

And who will pay for all this?............... I have been listening carefully and haven't heard the rustle of RIAA or MPAA cheque books.

While they are at it perhaps they should just close the US postal service, as I am sure that it is used for all sorts of illegal activities?

As for this just appling to foreign sites, I really don't believe that at all

And what about proxies and anonymous browsing services? how do they propose stopping those?

Ha, completely agree. They are proposing something they don't have the technical prowess to pull off. This would be a monumental undertaking and would piss a lot of people off. Ha as to the anonymous browsing such as TOR and others, they are simply talking about making them illegal to use all together.

Hi allAs you probably know the site Mega upload has been pulled off the web so even with the present legislation it is possible for the US to internationally block sites and have them taken down. Given that precedent you tube, Google and Facebook just to name a few sites can be pulled any time the MPAA likes. Or maybe it will just affect non US companies. What really annoys me thought is the fact that in the case of the arrests and extradition warrants the laws and treaty's being used were voted in at the time to protect against terrorism.

--edit---
AndHappy new year to everyone.

\"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.\"
\"The reason we are so pleased to find other people\'s secrets is that it distracts public attention from our own.\"
Oscar Wilde(1854-1900)

so even with the present legislation it is possible for the US to internationally block sites and have them taken down

Only if the legislation in the other countries is similar.

It seems that Megaupload have been cynically profiteering from the distribution of copyrighted material, that is why they have fallen foul of the law in various countries.

From what I have seen of SOPA et al, it would only try to stop Americans from accessing copyright material on foreign servers, by blocking access to those servers from within the US............. and that won't work except for those who are too stupid or lazy to circumvent it.